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miriam nice

Good evening to you dearest reader. It’s been too long. So, turns out it’s been nearly 3 years since I posted anything, which is pretty unforgivable. What have you been up to? You can see a chunk of what I’ve been doing if you like over here https://www.bbcgoodfood.com/chef/miriam-nice – somewhere in the region of 300+ recipes, plus some food writing, travel writing, food styling, videos and art direction. But enough of my excuses, let’s get back to business.

Website is all tidied up and optimised for mobile (I think) – let me know if it looks a bit potato on your screen though please. You’ll probably notice a few other changes too, there’s some illustration kicking about for one thing, and my blog posts might start to take a slightly more varied direction…

Thank you so much for all the support over the last few years, especially all the instagram fun-times. This year is going to be a good one I think, not only am I planning our wedding (happening next year – ridiculously excited) but my book Cooking Without A Kitchen is going to be 5 years old in September, so I have half a mind to do something but still trying to work out how best to mark the occasion so if you have any ideas answers on a postcard please (or just use the contact form)

I shall leave you with a bizarre and unexplained selection of photos from the last 3 years. xx

So, here’s some news… I’m writing a cook book and it looks like it’s actually going to get published!!!! (currently doing lots of little dances!) anyway, I have to get it all finished by the end of July so I might be a bit quiet on the blogging front. I do promise to keep you posted on all developments & any fun launch events we come up with. Wish me luck you lovely lot!
Smooches! Xx

This week Bradley Taylor & I have re-launched our catering business Taylor & Nice with a new Private Chef Hire offering. We’ve been booked to do some quite exciting events over the next few weeks, so we’ve been busy buying new chef jackets, plates and cutlery in preparation. I think I could lose whole days in cookware shops. I am completely obsessed with seeing pans in every possibly size – ranging right from dolls house scale to a saucepan I could probably install a kitchen and a couple of bedrooms in.

The only thing we’re struggling with is trousers. Here’s a venn diagram I’ve put together to explain what I mean:

Rant over, it’s back to the kitchen to get perfecting some of our recipes ready for our upcoming events. This week I have been putting the finishing touches on a recipe for a melon & ginger biscuit dessert.

Melon Curd

We’re serving this homemade melon curd with lemon posset, ginger biscuits, and fresh melon pieces but I’m sure it would be lovely on toast, stirred through yoghurt or in a tart.

Ingredients:

1/2 a Galia Melon, deseeded and chopped
juice of 1 lemon
200g of caster sugar
100g of unsalted butter
3 eggs and 1 egg yolk whisked together with a fork

Method

1) Put everything except the egg mixture in a heatproof bowl set over a pan of simmering water

2) Stir together until the butter has melted

3) Whisk in the eggs and keep stirring or gently whisking for around 15-20mins until the mixture thickens.

4) Take the mixture off the heat and allow to cool, don’t forget to remove any remaining melon pieces and discard them (or eat them, they taste a bit like stewed apple and custard) then put the curd in the fridge to chill and thicken up a bit more ready for spreading, or drizzling.

If you’d like to find out more about Taylor & Nice or you know where we can get catering clothes that don’t look like we’ve had little accidents and had to change, please get in touch via our website: taylorandnice.com

“When we get back to our house can we lay out a load of ingredients we need to use up and then you cook something out of them? Would that be fun for you?”

Of course it would! I didn’t spend my teenage years watching ready steady cook everyday after school for nothing! I’m always up for a creative culinary challenge (and particularly any excuse to show off). Naomi and Martin are two splendid newly weds who live seconds away from Brighton beach.

They were married on the same day that Richard and I met. The only significance in this fact was that the first time I saw Richard he was looking particularly dashing in a suit. In fact come to think of it, I also happened to be wearing a suit then, and a top hat, as we met after the wedding at a Halloween party where I had decided to dress as an undertaker.

Anyway, back to the kitchen! Richard and I arrived back at Naomi and Martin’s to find a whole host of vegetables, jars and tins laid out on the dining table. I requested a piece of paper and a pen and after a moment of deliberation I somehow managed to scribble down a very vague 2 course menu for 4.

Everyone chipped in and we made corn cakes with refried beans followed by mushroom chilli with rice (which was more of a ratatouille in the end). Whilst I was frying the corn cakes Naomi and the boys devised a little song and dance consisting of lots of shouting the letters M.I.M and “Go FOOD” with cheerleader type actions and intonations. This (not surprisingly) fast descended into tremendous fits of giggles to the point where I’m surprised we served anything at all. We had a lovely evening, their home is a wonderful, welcoming space, full of homemade furniture, pictures painted by family & friends and a very particular collection of pebbles from Brighton beach – selected only if they clearly resemble a letter of the alphabet. With the letters obtained thus far Martin is able to write the phrase “gone swimming x” completely in pebbles for Naomi to discover.